Mikel Landa signs with Movistar

Mikel Landa has signed with Movistar, the Spanish team confirmed today.

The 27-year-old from Murgia will wear the Movistar jersey for the next two years after a brilliant 2017 season, which has confirmed him as Spain’s brightest hope for three-week stageraces in this new generation.

“It’s great news for us,” explained Movistar Team general manager Eusebio Unzué. “Being still a young rider and with everything that’s he’s shown, he should be the rider who leads Spanish cycling for the next few years.”

The recent winner of the Vuelta a Burgos and a stage victor in this year’s Giro d’Italia, where he also claimed the KOM jersey, Landa went just one second short to claiming his first Tour de France GC podium finish three weeks ago. It would have been his second top-3 result at a Grand Tour after his third spot overall in the 2015 Giro d’Italia, where he took two mountain stage wins. The Basque climber also has a Vuelta a España stage win to his account (2015), as well as victories at the Giro del Trentino, the Vuelta al País Vasco (two stages in each) and Burgos (three stages).

Landa signed his first pro contract with continental outfit Orbea in 2010, before joining the WorldTour a year later with Euskaltel-Euskadi. He spent his next three years at home, prior to travelling abroad and covering two-year terms with Astana (’14-15) and Sky (’16-17).